A controversial Japanese-funded project to build a toilet on the historic Sigiriya rock was abandoned this week and the funds are to be diverted for the conservation of the historic site, Cultural Affairs Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told the Sunday Times.
The decision to stop the toilet project came after a group of villagers, backed by some of the labourers attached to the Central Cultural Fund, launched a campaign against the scheme.
The Minister, however, stressed the need for sanitary facilities there because foreign and local tourists took about two hours to climb down from the top of the rock.
She said she halted the project on a Presidential directive in the wake of the protests,
The minister has instructed Archaeology Director Dr. Senarath Dissanayake to submit a report on alternative ways of using the Japanese funds. |
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